GPSA meeting, in brief

On Saturday the Graduate and Professional Student Association held its monthly council meeting. There were 24 representatives from the College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law and Anderson School of Management in attendance.

Resolution 5F: Sex Week

An amendment was made to include language asking the Student Affairs office to clarify its apology for Sex Week and to clarify what exactly it was apologizing for, said Jessica Marshall, council chair. The resolution also calls upon UNM administrators to provide constructive criticism about future sexual education events. The resolution passed 24-1 and was presented, as a joint resolution with ASUNM, to the council by Amber Dukes, Equity and Inclusion Chair.

Finance Committee Appropriations

Rob Yazbeck, Finance Committee vice chair, brought the council a summary of appropriation request. All 12 appropriations passed unanimously except for one from Out Queer Grads, which was amended and then passed. The original request asked for $300 to be moved from the professional service budget to honorarium in order to compensate a guest speaker who will be video streaming his presentation. The amount of compensation was also reduced to $100, and the amendment was passed.

Appointments

Jessica Marshall, vice chair, proposed two appointments to the council for Chloe Winegar-Garrett, programs chair, and Alaa Elmaoued, graduate health chair. A unanimous vote was passed for their appointments.

Guest Speakers

Academic tech liaison Stephen Burd and director of information technologies Moira Gerety presented to the council about Turnitin and iThenticate, computer programs that allow professors and students to check students’ schoolwork for potential plagiarism. The programs are currently being used by several departments, but the contract runs out in fall 2015. The council discussed the benefits and costs of the programs, and whether the contract should be renewed. No final action was taken at the meeting.